Ben Youssef Madrasa

Founded in the fourteenth century and rebuilt on a much larger scale by the Saadians in the sixteenth, the Ben Youssef Madrasa housed hundreds of students who studied at the neighbouring mosque and slept in cells around the upper galleries. It stopped functioning as a school in the twentieth century and reopened as a monument after a long restoration. The central courtyard is the set piece: a shallow marble basin, walls of zellij below carved stucco and a band of Kufic inscription, all under carved cedar. Behind it the prayer hall has a fine mihrab and pine-cone capitals. Upstairs the cells are startling by contrast, small bare rooms with a single window, some looking into the courtyard and some into narrow light wells.

History

The madrasa takes its name from the Ben Youssef Mosque beside it, founded as the city's main mosque by the Almoravid sultan Ali ibn Yusuf (reigned 1106-1142), and al-Ifrani records that the first madrasa on the site was founded by the Marinid sultan Abu al-Hasan (reigned 1331-1348). The Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib rebuilt it, completing it in 1564-1565 according to an inscription, and it became the largest madrasa in the Maghreb, said to hold more than 800 students. It closed in 1960, was refurbished and reopened as a historic site in 1982, and after a restoration from November 2018 reopened in April 2022 (Wikipedia, Ben Youssef Madrasa).

What's there

• The courtyard - a marble basin between zellij walls, carved stucco and cedar screens.
• The student cells - more than a hundred bare rooms off the upper galleries.
• The prayer hall - a carved mihrab with palm and pine-cone capitals.
• The Kufic band - the inscribed frieze running above the tilework of the main court.

When to go

Arrive at opening, or in the last hour, if you want the courtyard without a crowd standing in it; the middle of the day is when the tour groups arrive together. Spring and autumn are ideal. The upper cells are hot and airless in summer afternoons.

Before you go

The courtyard is small and it is photographed constantly, so waiting for a clear frame takes patience you may not have. The upper cells are reached by narrow, uneven stairs and low doorways, and the galleries have low parapets. Ticket prices have risen sharply since the restoration for what is a forty-five minute visit.

Nearby

The Marrakech museum quarter and the Almoravid Koubba are next door; the souks begin immediately south.

Key facts